13 Iconic Movie Characters Who Were Portrayed at Different Ages

When a movie portrays an actor from their young age until their older days, there are two choices a production can make. First, they can use the same actor and use CGI in order to make them look younger or older. The second choice is to find a different actor that resembles the protagonist. And this latter choice seems to be the most popular.

1. Vito Corleone in The Godfather

Both actors won an Oscar for the role of Vito Corleone in The Godfather. It’s the only time in history when 2 actors won separate Oscars for the same character. Brando won Best Actor and De Niro won Best Supporting Actor.

2. Gia Carangi in Gia

HBO’s television movie was released in 1998 and it basically goes about the life of American model Gia Carangi. Back in the day, Carangi was considered to be one of the first supermodels of her generation. The movie portrays her life story and the difficulties that came along with international fame. Mila Kunis plays Carangi during her childhood years and then Angelina Jolie takes over when Carangi becomes an adult.

3. Donna in Mamma Mia!

In 2008, musical Маmmа Mia! was released where the role of Donna was played by Meryl Streep. 10 years later, a sequel was made where a young Donna was played by British actress Lily James.

4. Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

In the third installment of one of the most popular adventure sagas of all time, we could see a young and already very curious Indiana played by actor River Phoenix. Harrison Ford himself was the one who recommended the young actor to play his younger version. In fact, both actors had already worked together in The Mosquito Coast. They were cast as father and son and the resemblance between them was striking.

5. Elton John in Rocketman

In the biography drama Rocketman, Taron Egerton was excellent in the role of Elton John. It was really important to find a teenager that would look similar to Taron, who could portray the legendary musician as a child. Young actor Kit Connor did a great job.

6. Rose DeWitt Bukater in Titanic

There was no way we would leave the beautiful Rose from Titanic off of this list. In the first scenes of the film, an older Rose was played by the wonderful Gloria Stuart. However, as you might remember, in the years of her youth Rose was played by the beautiful Kate Winslet. Although there is a big age difference between both actresses, there is also an interesting physical resemblance, but in this case, there is no family link between them, which makes it all way more surprising.

7. Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings

Both actors played Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings franchise and in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

8. Professor X in X-Men

The X-Men saga has left us with plenty of excellent action films. Probably, the best thing about them is that they’re all an amazing journey that explores both the present, the past, and the future of the characters. It’s thanks to these “time travels” that we have been able to know several different faces of some of the beloved protagonists. A clear example is Professor Xavier, who was played by Patrick Stewart as the older version in the first films of the saga and later, by James McAvoy, in a younger form.

9. Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars saga

The story of Obi-Wan is first introduced in Star Wars, the very first installment of the saga. He is presented as a mysterious, lonely man living in the desert. He was played by British actor Sir Alec Guinness. But we later find out he’s actually a Jedi master of the ancient Galactic Republic who guided the first steps of Anakin and Luke Skywalker. His successor in the role, playing him at a younger age, was the Scottish actor Ewan McGregor.

10. Daisy in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The director from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button used makeup and CGI only for the main character, portrayed by Brad Pitt. But his love, Daisy, was portrayed by Elle Fanning and Cate Blanchett. Elle was only 10 years old at the time.

11. Mystique in X-Men

This mutant capable of shapeshifting by imitating anyone’s appearance and voice is one of the most popular characters of the X-Men saga. It’s hardly a coincidence that she appears in all the films released so far. In the first 3 parts, Mystique was played exclusively by actress and model Rebecca Romijn. However, in the fourth installment, Jennifer Lawrence and Rebecca shared the role, and ever since then, Jennifer has been in charge of bringing this strange but charming character to the big screen.

12. Noah Calhoun in The Notebook

During this romantic movie, we were able to get to know the deep love story between Allie and Noah — so intense that it lasted for many years. The role of the young and handsome Noah was played by the Canadian Ryan Gosling and in his old age by the American James Garner.

13. Jacob in Water for Elephants

Both actors portrayed the role of veteran Jacob in Water for Elephants. Hal Holbrook was amazed at Robert Pattinson because he looked exactly like Holbrook did in his youth.

Do you think it’s better to hire different actors to portray a character at different ages or use CGI to make the same actor look younger or older?